


Reasons

by prototyping



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: BroFic, Friendship, Gen, General, I need more young and dorky Terra in my life, Pre-BBS, genfic, this fandom needs more genfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-28
Updated: 2015-01-28
Packaged: 2018-03-09 10:42:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,067
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3246689
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/prototyping/pseuds/prototyping
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Pre-BBS. Ven can't sleep, Terra tries to help, blah blah cliché friendly fluff I JUST WANT MORE BRO CUTENESS AND YOUNG TERRA OK OK</p>
            </blockquote>





	Reasons

"Terra."

The address was a quiet one. Terra was normally a heavy sleeper, but as he stirred now he had the impression that he hadn't been out for very long. He rolled onto his back, squinting in the darkness of his room as he searched for the source. "Ventus?" he guessed groggily.

It was none other than the boy himself. He stood close to the bedside, everything in his poise from his slumped shoulders to the way he hung his head radiating uncertainty. When he didn't answer, Terra propped himself up on his elbows and shook his head slightly, trying to clear it. "Hey. What's up?"

Ventus' gaze drifted briefly towards the door. Used to the lack of verbal responses, Terra hazarded patiently, "You can't sleep?" After a moment, that earned a light nod. Terra gave a small, sympathetic smile and sat up. "I don't blame you. It can be kind of loud at night." Walls creaked, windows rattled, and there was at least one noisy owl that liked to hang around outside the west wing, where all the bedrooms were located. They were sounds Terra was well acquainted with by now, enough to ignore them, but he remembered more than a few nervous nights when he was younger.

He glanced at the clock. Just after midnight. The Master would have already retired for the night by now.

Terra studied his fellow pupil thoughtfully. "Well, I'll tell you what I do when I can't sleep." Ventus only blinked curiously at him. Pushing back the covers, Terra climbed out of bed, retrieved his lounge pants, and pulled them on over his boxers before finally answering. "I get something to eat. You hungry?"

Truthfully, Terra usually cured insomnia by sneaking in some late-night Keyblade practice, oftentimes alone. In this case, however, he couldn't imagine either the Master or Aqua approving of his taking Ventus outside in the middle of the night to try and wear him down. Not only that, but he didn't necessarily trust himself with that prospect, either.

It had been about a month since Ventus' awakening, nearly two since Master Xehanort left him in their care. Like Aqua and Master Eraqus, Terra assumed his fair share of the responsibility in looking after Ventus -- guiding him, teaching him, helping him, and most of all just having patience with him -- but even now, weeks later, he couldn't help feeling a little paranoid around the boy. It was no fault of Ventus'; Terra still harbored a gnawing bit of guilt from their first meeting, and it stuck with him to the point where he didn't really trust himself alone with him. What if he said something wrong -- what if he made Ventus break down again?

Despite Aqua's reassurances, Terra tried to make sure she always tagged along, convinced that she was better with Ventus than he was. Now, however, that couldn't be helped unless he woke her, but he knew that was being unfair. He couldn't avoid being alone with Ventus forever. So as he led the way down to the kitchen, Terra resolved to just do as he had been doing: be patient, be considerate, and keep to statements and simple yes/no questions.

When it came to food -- and most things -- Ventus always agreed to whatever was offered with the same submissive detachment. It was troubling and a little sad, but Terra decided tonight was probably too soon to try and help him develop a more selective taste. After flicking on the lights, he pulled two glasses from the cupboard with one hand, the milk from the fridge with the other, and balanced a bag of cookies between his side and elbow as he moved over to the table. Catching Ventus' look, Terra smiled.

"Me and Aqua used to do this all the time when we were little. We would take turns," he recalled as he filled both glasses, "sneaking down here and taking food back to one of our rooms." His expression turned sly with something like pride. "I could always carry more than her, though." But she always moved more quietly and never got caught.

He set the cups in front of two opposite chairs, placed the cookies halfway between them, and sat. Ventus mirrored him and sipped idly at his milk without provocation. Watching him, Terra once again couldn't help wondering what his story was, but asking for details was as dangerous as it was pointless. Ventus knew no more than he did.

Instead, Terra dismissed his curiosity and spoke up again, since Master Eraqus had advised that they frequently talk to him, or at least around him, in hopes of helping him integrate more comfortably. "So... are you used to the castle yet?"

Ventus hesitated, and then sat up a little straighter and nodded. That seemed like a positive response, so Terra added with some amusement, "I used to get lost all the time, so I know what that's like. If you ever need any help, you can always ask us."

"Mm." It was an indifferent sound of acknowledgement, but to Terra it felt like a small victory in its own right. More than that, however, Ventus frowned at the tabletop as if in thought -- and then actually spoke. "You... live here," he said, almost in recitation. "And train."

Terra blinked, a little caught off guard by the almost-question, but then quickly recovered. "That's right. It's kind of our home and our school. Master Eraqus trains us," he reminded him. "And he'll train you, too, Ventus. Once he thinks you're ready."

Ventus stared across at him and it was hard to tell what he thought of that, or whether he even understood it. At length, his attention fell back to his glass of milk, his expression vacant once more.

Terra, however, was determined to keep that spark of interest -- of life -- going. He wasn't supposed to mention anything related to Ventus' life prior to his arrival in the Land of Departure, not even Master Xehanort, but the boy had spent enough time around them lately for the basics of their daily life to be a safe topic, surely.

"Do you think you'd be interested?" Terra asked, watching his face for the slightest hint that this might be treading on thin ice. "Learning to fight, I mean."

The silence was heavy, stretching on for nearly half a minute. Terra wondered if Ventus had understood his question, and whether he needed to repeat it, but then the halting reply finally came.

"Why do you fight?" Slowly, Ventus lifted his gaze to look at Terra again. He seemed more clueless than curious, as if at a complete loss as to such reasoning.

Threading his fingers around his own glass, Terra hesitated. He had the inexplicable gut-feeling that he needed to choose his words carefully here -- rather, he needed to really think them through and give an answer that was both honest and meaningful.

"I started out... wanting to be strong. I still do." When Ventus tilted his head slightly, a silent implication of _And why's that?_ or something like it, Terra strove for a more clear-cut explanation.

Why, indeed?

"I need to be stronger," he continued, his eyes thoughtfully downcast, "because I want to protect what matters."

"What... matters..."

Terra nodded minutely. "Right. The ones important to me, and our home... Anyone and anywhere else that needs to be protected, too." And, he acknowledged silently, to live up to Master Eraqus' hopes and expectations.

"Strong enough to protect," Ventus murmured. His eyes, although still empty, appeared a bit more focused than usual, as if he were struggling to hold onto a moment of clarity. "Aqua...?"

"Aqua, too," Terra agreed. "She has things to protect, just like me and the Master do. And just like you, too," he added, his smile confident. "One day you'll figure out who or what it is that's most important to you -- the things you want to keep safe -- and that will help you reach your goals." Ventus was quiet, so Terra went on, "We'll be here to help you, too -- that's what friends do, after all."

"Friends..." The way Ventus said it was almost like a question, as if he were only passingly familiar with the word. "Friends," he repeated more firmly, looking up. "Like you and Aqua?"

"That's right. We're all friends now, Ventus." Even as he spoke, Terra's easy smile wavered and shifted to a thoughtful look. "I've been thinking," he mused. "That's kind of a big name for you, don't you think?"

Ventus only gave another blank stare.

"Heh." Terra scratched at his temple. "How do you feel about a nickname? Maybe... just 'Ven' for short."

Blinking, Ventus suddenly looked the most lucid that Terra had ever seen him -- or maybe it just seemed that way. "Ven," he echoed, trying the sound out for himself. His face screwed up briefly, but then he only asked, "Because we're friends?"

"Yep. Because we're friends."

For a moment, Terra was hopeful in thinking that Ventus might actually smile for once, as clear as his gaze looked right then -- but he only nodded stiffly, and then the light in his eyes was gone as quickly as it had appeared. "Okay."

Still, it was a big step forward, Terra thought. Ven was already following the conversation a lot better than before, and even his short sentences were an improvement over total silence.

Terra kept up some mild commentary for the next half hour or so, but Ven had apparently reached his speech limit for the night and fell back into responding with nods and single syllables. Once their glasses were empty and half the cookies devoured, Terra proposed that they head back upstairs. Ven didn't object.

"All right," said Terra a minute later, keeping his voice low as they stopped in front of his room, "I'm ready to turn in. How about you, Ven?"

Ven looked up at him, and then down the hall to where his own room waited, but didn't move.

"What's wrong?" Puzzled, Terra rubbed the back of his neck -- and then stopped, nearly laughing at himself as he realized: "Wait -- you don't want to be alone? Is that it?" Ven glanced at him, hesitated, and then looked away again, and Terra gave a warm "hm" of deduction. He should have figured that from the beginning. After all, prior to their preteen years, how often had he and Aqua shared a bed for comfort -- either intentionally during a thunderstorm, or because they fell asleep during one of their midnight snack campouts under the blankets?

He ruffled Ven's hair fondly, his smile a reassuring one. "Okay. Come on -- you can stay with me tonight." Ven perked up in what looked like surprise, or maybe relief; either way, a minute later they were settled back-to-back under Terra's blankets. He was one to keep his room almost pitch-black at night, his thick curtains blocking all but a thin sliver of moonlight along the floor, but Ven didn't seem to mind. On the contrary, his breathing evened out and grew heavy almost immediately after lying down, and Terra was left alone to stew in a little bit of guilt for not having realized what Ven wanted sooner.

Still, he reasoned, it hadn't been a waste of time. Who knew? Maybe a few more talks like that one were what Ven needed. If only for a fleeting instant, he had looked animated, involved, for the first time; maybe friendship was all he really needed right now, and everything else could be worked in more slowly.

As Terra felt his thoughts beginning to slow and scatter under encroaching sleep, he decided he would talk to Aqua about it first thing in the morning. Together, they could figure out the best way to help and heal Ven.

Right before he would have fallen asleep, he felt a light touch against his back. Casting a glance over his shoulder, he only just made out Ven directly behind him -- or the spikes of his hair, at least, as everything else was hidden snug under the comforter. His forehead had settled between Terra's shoulder blades, and he was now snoring quietly.

With a soft, amused exhale, Terra let him be and settled on his side again. He hadn't intended for this to become a routine, but for now, at least, he doubted he could tell Ven no if it did.


End file.
